Paul has spent the first part of this chapter explaining the nature, purpose and importance of the church. Now in the second part, he explores some of the practical ramifications.
There is an interesting downward spiral that takes place when we try to leave God out of the picture. Paul considers this "futile thinking" and it is the hallmark of mainstream society.
This first step downwards is powerfully described in v.18...
It all stems from a hard heart.
A heart that is closed to God is a heart that is separated from the Life of God in the world. Think about sunsets, the miracle of breathing, the wonder of child-birth and so many other things that speak of the majesty and splendour of God - they are the "signposts" of the "Life of God." When we harden our hearts to God, then we can't read the "signposts" of God's life and our understanding becomes darkened. If we don't have God as our reference point, we become self-referencing, self-centred and self-defining.
This leads us to losing sensitivity (toward others) and giving ourselves over to sensuality (our own pleasure) and because this can never satisfy, we try harder and harder to find self-pleasure no matter what rules we break.
In the context of this chapter, it needs to be recognised that Paul is offering the church (where people are growing closer to God and each other) as an alternative to main-stream society that is locked in a downward spiral.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
